The German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB) has released the VHB Publication Media Rating 2024. This rating highlights quality differences between outlets relevant to business administration, particularly journals, based on assessments from over 1,100 VHB members with voting rights.

"With the VHB Rating 2024, we are providing valuable guidance through the jungle of publication media, particularly for young academics," asserts Prof. Dr. Christian Koziol, Head of Research and Publications at the VHB. "It is the result of an elaborate and careful process that has incorporated the expertise of all 18 Scientific Commissions of the VHB."

The survey's scope and dimensions have significantly increased compared to previous VHB ratings. For the first time, the survey includes selected conference papers ("proceedings") and legal commentaries, and utilized multiple evaluation dimensions. 1,575 journals, commentaries, and proceedings were evaluated based on over 112,000 data points for the rating.

Scientific quality is the primary criterion for evaluation, defined as the extent to which a medium advan-ces business studies as a scientific discipline. While some scientific commissions may also assess transfer relevance, discipline reference, or practical relevance of the media, the VHB rating does not generate an overall list. It is important to note that decisions regarding the outlets to be evaluated were made solely within the disciplines.

The VHB Rating serves as a guide for submissions and should not be the sole measure for assessing academic performance. As VHB President Prof. Dr. Jutta Geldermann notes, the quality of an article is not determined by the reputation of the journal in which it is published. The VHB fully endorses the request of various organizations to acknowledge the variety of research outcomes and activities and to comprehensively evaluate research accomplishments.

The VHB Publication Media Rating 2024 is now available on the VHB website: https://vhbonline.org/en/services/vhb-rating-2024. It comprises 18 area ratings, which were meticulously assembled by the individual Scientific Commissions and cover the entire thematic spectrum of business administration. The VHB publishes ratings to promote transparency and incentivize publication media to improve their quality assurance mechanisms.